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23 November 2020 10:21:59
In a NASA photo, a self-portrait taken by NASA’s Curiosity rover at Gale Crater, at the center of which is Mount Sharp, a 3.4-mile-high mound, on June 15, 2018. Mars, it appears, is erupting a great deal of gas which could be a sign of microbes living on the planet today. (Photo file: NASA / JPL-Caltech / MSSS via The New York Times)
Mars has always intrigued scientists for its ability to sustain life. Now, a research study published in scientific reports earlier this month suggests that some four billion years ago floods of unimaginable size swept through Gale crater on Mars’ equator. The research findings were ascertained from data collected by NASA’s Curiosity rover.
Scientists from Jackson State University, Cornell University. the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the University of Hawaii put their heads together to come to this conclusion. The findings suggest that Mars was able to sustain life a long time ago. The megaflood event may have been the result of the heat produced by a meteor impact. The series of events released the ice stored on the surface of Mars which led to gigantic ripples.
Study co-author Alberto G. Fairén said detailed sedimentological data was key to the new discovery and the reason it didn’t come to light is due to “deposits left by megafloods that had not previously been identified with orbiter data. . “
According to lead author Ezat Heydari, the “megaripples” or “antidunes” were 30 feet tall and about 450 feet apart. Scientists were able to draw parallels between the events that occurred on Earth and also on the Red Planet. Heydari believes these features were formed by the melting of the ice on our planet nearly two million years ago.
It is plausible that a large amount of carbon dioxide and methane was released from the planet’s frozen reservoirs as a result of the meteoric impact. This resulted in water entering the Gale crater which subsequently combined with the water coming down from Mount Sharp which is located within it and 5.5 km high from the valley floor. The chain reaction led to gigantic flash floods on the planet, the extent of which is still uncertain.
Gale Crater has always fascinated scientists as the science team of the Curiosity rover has already confirmed that it once housed persistent lakes and streams. This research puts a stamp on the possibility of supporting microbial life on the fourth planet of our solar system.
“Early Mars was an extremely active planet from a geologic point of view,” Fairén said. “The planet had the necessary conditions to support the presence of liquid water on the surface and on Earth, where there is water, there is life.”
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